TCU needs win for bowl chance

FORT WORTH, Texas— Oklahoma State is still scoring plenty of points with fifth-year senior quarterback Taylor Cornelius, who waited his turn to be the Cowboys starter in his final college season.

Injury-plagued TCU, which has gotten three of its wins when scoring fewer than 20 points, likely will have fifth-year senior quarterback Grayson Muehlstein making his first career start in his final regular season game Saturday night, when the Horned Frogs (5-6, 3-5) have to win to get bowl eligible.

“Grayson has been here a long time. He’s the next guy up so we’ve got to get ready to win and find a way to win,” coach Gary Patterson said. “He’ll have a chance to prepare as a starter, not as a backup. The other part, they’ll also have a chance to prepare for him.”

Muehlstein, the third quarterback used this season by the Frogs, finished off their 16-9 win at Baylor last week to keep their bowl hopes intact.

The Cowboys (6-5, 3-5) got bowl eligible with their 45-41 win over then-No. 7 West Virginia when Cornelius threw his fifth touchdown pass with 42 seconds left, a week after he had 501 yards passing at No. 6 Oklahoma when they lost 48-47 after a failed 2-point conversion with 1:03 left. They beat Texas 38-35 last month.

“Oklahoma State, I think they’ve shown their potential, two of the top teams in the league, and they’ve gone after them, both Texas and West Virginia, and they took Oklahoma to the wire,” Patterson said.

At the same time they went toe-to-toe with the Big 12 title contenders, the Cowboys had double-digit losses to Texas Tech and Kansas State and blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter to lose at Baylor.

“Definitely want to finish strong and end the season with a statement,” Cowboys safety Kenneth EdisonMcGruder said.